Learn from mistakes in planning next year's garden

Now that the garden season is winding down, it is a good time to look back over the past growing season to see what went well and what needs to change for next year. I will share a few of the things I need to change in the hope that you will learn from my mistakes.

I am a sucker for plants. If someone offers me a new or different variety, I have to plant it. When I grow my own plants, I tend to plant more than I need, just in case. I might only need one plant out of a four- or six-pack from the greenhouse, but I plant the entire pack. Once I have the plants, I have to plant them. I can't help myself.

This summer, I had 23 cantaloupes all ready to eat at the same time. My family can't eat 23 large cantaloupes in one week. I was only able to push off a few onto my co-workers. I over-planted tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions and okra. What did I learn? Next year I will plant less of each crop.

And there are advantages to growing fewer plants. Smaller plantings are easier to care for, especially when it comes to weeding and watering. When the time to buy plants for next season arrives, get together with other gardeners and get organized. One person can buy a pack of cantaloupe, another person can buy a pack of watermelon, and someone else can buy a pack of eggplant. Then split them up among yourselves.

Another mistake I made was not using a weed barrier under my vine crops. Typically, I will put one row of plastic mulch in the garden for cantaloupe, watermelon and cucumbers. This year I did not use mulch. I put up a valiant fight against the weeds until the vines spread out. At that point, I lost control. What did I learn? Plastic, paper or some type of mulch is a must for vine crops. In addition to preventing weeds, black plastic mulch also warms the soil in the spring. Vine crops love warm soil.

The final mistake I will admit is that I was impatient in the spring. I planted a few tomato plants on May 4. Yes, I knew that was too early, but I was willing to take a chance. Frost killed half of the plants, and cool weather delayed the other half. The tomatoes planted on May 22, however, had ripe fruit just as early as the survivors of the May 4 planting.

My plan for 2014 is to grow fewer plants of each vegetable and to spread out the planting a little more. I will plant one cantaloupe plant in late May and another in mid-June, not four plants at one time. I will purchase enough plastic mulch to have all of my vine crops growing on mulch. And I will wait until late May to plant my warm-season crops. The plan will help me stay ahead of the weeds and have all the produce my family needs.

What can you learn from this year's garden that will help you be more successful next summer?

For more information, contact your local extension office. In Lackawanna County, call 963-6842 or email Lack awanna MG@psu.edu.

JOHN ESSLINGER is a Horticulture Extension educator with Penn State Extension.

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